Vidyagama will resume in revised format soon, says Suresh Kumar

Bengaluru: Minister for Primary and Secondary Education S. Suresh Kumar on Wednesday said Vidyagama scheme which has been suspended for two months will be implemented in a revised format.

"The scheme was stopped on October 10 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and now the positive rates have come down to about one per cent. The department has undertaken several improvements, including temporary implementation of a new form of security measures on the directions of the Supreme Court. Vidyagama program will take place on the premises of government, aided and unaided schools. The online channels of Chandana will continue as usual. Children can attend schools half day wearing masks. Parental consent is mandatory and children will be subjected to thermal screening at schools. Students with fever, cough, common cold and symptoms of COVID-19 will not be allowed."

According to the reports, three classes for a duration of 45 minutes will be held for a group of 15-20 students based on the availability of number of teachers rooms in schools. Local health department will coordinate with schools when necessary to monitor the health of students. The classes are being conducted based on the recommendation of a panel of experts and standard operating procedure will be followed.

"Not all will attend the school at the same time. Students of class 10 will have classes in the first shift, from 10 am to 12.30 pm on weekdays, and from 8.30 am to 11.15 am on Saturday. As it is stated in the guidelines released by the Karnataka government, for students studying in classes 8 and 9 would be conducted on alternate days from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Classes from to 5, will be held on alternate days." Suresh Kumar added.

Earlier in August, the Department of Primary and Secondary Education had launched Vidyagama programme to reach out to students of government schools by taking classes at doorstep of the children at their villages. But the government was forced to stop the scheme in October after reports of students and teachers contracting COVID-19. However, the absence of classes adversely affected students who do not have access to internet or smartphones or laptops though teachers were keen to continue teaching students by sending instructions on WhatsApp.